Raising an extra one million rand will go a long way in assisting Blind SA to achieve its goals and give wings to words for thousands of blind people, young learners in particular, through enabling them to become braille-literate.
For most of us, sending a message or communicating with family, friends or colleagues is as simple as tapping out words on that ubiquitous key pad – whether it’s on our phones, tablets or laptops. We even enhance the words with emojis and other fancy icons to get the message across. And then we press send… simple as that.
We can do this because we can see. And, for those of us fortunate enough to enjoy 20/20 vision, sight is one of the precious senses that we take for granted. We wake up in the morning, open our eyes and get on with our day. But, have you ever stopped to imagine a life lived in darkness…
Stop and spare a thought for those hundreds of thousands of South Africans who are blind or severely visually impaired. They can’t enjoy this simple luxury that we take for granted. So, how do they give wings to their words, when they want to tell their stories, send a message or communicate with a loved one.
The #GiveWordsWings campaign has been created to focus on the ability, rather than the disability, of those who are afflicted with a loss of sight.
Giving wings to words forms the basis of a pro-bono campaign developed and produced by Meropa Communications and its creative unit, Meropa Visual, on behalf of the non-profit organisation, Blind SA. The campaign will assist the organisation in driving an ambitious fundraising campaign to raise R1-million to fund many of its essential and much-needed projects to assist the blind community across the country.
And the figures in South Africa are staggering:
- It is estimated there are between 570 000 and 750 000 blind or visually impaired people (Stats SA – 2011 Census)
Of this figure, 57% are women and 23% are aged between 15 and 35 years - According to the World Health Organisation, it is estimated that 15% of South Africans are living with a disability, 60% of which are blind or visually impaired
- There are 22 schools for blind and visually impaired learners that cater for approximately 6 000 learners, with a further 12 000 blind and visually impaired learners attending mainstream schools (Dept. of Basic Education)
- However, according to Human Rights Watch (2015/16), there are approximately 450 000 children not in any formal schooling programme – and it is estimated that 250 000 of these are blind or visually impaired
Failure by the Dept. of Basic Education to provide access to adequate schooling, in fact any schooling, for the countless disabled learners is a major threat to their livelihood and dignity. The system is failing these children, and Blind SA is on a mission to rectify this desperate situation.
The work that Blind SA does is remarkable – considering that for the most part, the NGO relies solely on the generosity of South Africans, both as individuals and corporates. A very small portion of its annual funding requirements comes from the government but, what little that does, is from the Dept. of Arts & Culture.
Raising an extra one million rand will go a long way in assisting Blind SA to achieve its goals and give wings to words for thousands of blind people, young learners in particular, through enabling them to become braille-literate.
The funds will be used for:
- the production of braille- and Daisy-formatted textbooks to enable learners to learn
- braille literacy training, which is much-needed
- the purchase of Tatrapoint braille machines and Braille-me machines, and
- general support and assistance for blind and visually impaired school-going and adult learners by means of transport, books etc
Blind SA is appealing to South Africans to respond to their appeal for funds and donate generously via its website, at www.blindsa.org.za. Raising an amount of R1-million will go a long way in assisting Blind SA’s community, often unseen and thus forgotten, to give wings to their precious and important words. They deserve to be heard – please help us to give them that opportunity.
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